Man is jailed for punching a hole through an £8 million Monet painting

A man who punched a hole through a painting worth nearly £8 million has been jailed.

Andrew Shannon, 49, ruined the Claude Monet masterpiece hanging in the National Gallery Ireland in 2012 by attacking it in front of stunned art lovers.

On Thursday a court finally brought him to justice for his crime.

The famous painting, titled Argenteuil Basin with a Single Sailboat, was left with a large hole through the middle of it.

It is valued at $10 million (£7.8 million).

Mr Shannon told the police after his arrest he committed the thoughtless act of vandalism in an attempt to ‘get back at the state’ however while in court he tried to play it off as an accident by reportedly claiming he ‘felt faint’ and fell into the painting.

Mr Shannon was caught on CCTV making a fist before slamming it into the painting (Picture: National Gallery)